Lady Panthers' run ended by Deer Park

By Pat Turner :
June 5, 2012
: Updated: June 6, 2012 10:41am

O'Connor's Kenedy Urbany looks to throw to first base during the fifth inning of their 5A state semifinal game with Deer Park at McCombs Field in Austin on June 1, 2012. Deer Park scored 10 runs in the inning to come away with a 13-2 victory in five innings. tMARVIN PFEIFFER/ mpfeiffer@express-news.net

Photo By MARVIN PFEIFFER/Express-News

The O'Connor Lady Panthers really together prior to their 5A state semifinal game with Deer Park at McCombs Field in Austin on June 1, 2012. MARVIN PFEIFFER/ mpfeiffer@express-news.net

Photo By MARVIN PFEIFFER/Express-News

O'Connor second baseman Lesly Martinez catches a line drive for an out during the third innong of their 5A state semifinal game with Deer Park at McCombs Field in Austin on June 1, 2012. Deer Park went on to win 13-2 in five innings. MARVIN PFEIFFER/ mpfeiffer@express-news.net

O'Connor was on the road for another shot at a Class 5A softball title this past week.

The Panthers had gotten there with a 16-0 run through District 27-5A and an impressive showing during playoff victories over Corpus Christi King, Judson, Clark, Edinburg and Holmes.

After reaching the state tournament for the second straight year, the Panthers were counting on making their way into the title game. Unfortunately, they got sideswiped by a stampede of Deer in the semifinals.

The Lady Deer followed with a 6-0 win over Klein Collins for the title.

Since Deer Park was making its first state tournament appearance, O'Connor had the advantage when it came to playing in such a big venue as the Panthers have made five previous trips, including last year's trek to the finals.

However, that was the only edge O'Connor could get. Deer Park hammered out 14 hits, seven coming during the 10-run fifth, which also saw the Lady Deer make the most of the Panthers' three errors, hit batsmen and illegal pitches.

“We had a bad inning,” O'Connor coach Anne Lewis said. “Everything just kinda snowballed. We got into trouble, and everybody tried too hard to stop it. We were trying to think a little too hard. Deer Park had a real good team. They came in and hit the ball well.”

Before disaster struck, O'Connor was locked in a tight battle with the Lady Deer. Deer Park struck for two runs in their first at-bat, before the Panthers came back to tie the score in the bottom of the inning.

Deer Park regained the lead with a run in the second, but O'Connor prevented any more damage as outfielders Fields, Lauryn Donnally and Alex Scheel's sharp throws kept runners from gambling.

The fifth inning, however, was all Deer Park.

Although it was a tough way to end the year, Lewis reminded her team of the strides they made the entire season. After losing the majority of its nucleus from last season to graduation, the Panthers had to reload.

It started happening quickly and continued to develop. Urbany kept the pitching solid, and Fields' bat was effective from start to finish, while steady play also came from Maegan Taylor, Mia Esposito, Sarah Worrell, Lesly Martinez, Scheel, Ramirez and Donnally during the 31-3 campaign.

The future looks bright as the Panthers only lose Fields, Esposito and Taylor to graduation.

“We were really happy to get here from where we were at the beginning of the year,” Lewis said. “We wish we could have played better. We told the girls that one game doesn't define a season. We should be happy that we got here.”